Philippine soldiers arrested for burning man

Four soldiers in the Philippines have been arrested for setting a man on fire they wrongly suspected of being an Islamic militant, the military said Monday, branding it an "inhumane act of torture".

The soldiers tortured the man to force him to confess he was a member of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, which has been blamed for the country's worst terror attacks, according to the military's human rights office.

They allegedly seized the man in the southern Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Basilan island on July 23, poured gasoline on him and set him on fire.

"We will not condone this inhumane act of torture of an innocent civilian," said colonel Domingo Tutaan, head of the military's human rights office.

"This is the message we are sending to everybody, most especially to our soldiers: human rights violations will never be tolerated."

The soldiers - including a junior officer - have all been confined and are being investigated for possible court martial and criminal proceedings that could lead to jail terms, the officials said.

The family of the burned man, Abdul Khan Ajid, 39, said he only had a "50-50" chance of surviving as he had burns all over his face, torso and groin.

"The burns on his body are horrible. They poured gasoline on his face, his ears, his stomach, his groin and burned him," his sister, Haniba Mussada, told reporters.

President Benigno Aquino, who took office a little over a year ago, has pledged to end widespread human rights abuses in this insurgency-wracked country where many activists and journalists have been killed or abducted.

In many cases, the main suspects in such crimes are government security forces or powerful politicians.

However, in recent months, international human rights groups have criticised Aquino for not living up to his pledge, saying he had failed to change the "culture of impunity" that allowed such abuses to go unpunished.

You have no doubt been hearing a lot about the Paris Agreement and know that it pertains to climate change, but are too embarrassed at this stage to ask for an overall explanation of what it's all about.